If you can't just hear the scathing sarcasm in that title, it's only because you don't know what it's referring to.
Packing.
Every time I go anywhere, I always tend to underestimate how much of a pain in the neck packing really is. Even if it's just to visit friends in another state for a few weeks, packing two checked bags and a backpack seems like a hassle. Imagine how much worse it is when you're trying to fit enough clothing, hygienic items, cosmetics, and reminders of home into two suitcases (especially when each suitcase has a 50-pound weight limit).
Needless to say, shoving my life into these two cloth cubes has not been a walk in the park this week.
(Especially since I wasn't able to fit my beloved ukulele anywhere, which has me more than a little bit sad.)
There are study abroad packing lists all over the internet, but I found these two to be particularly helpful: "2 Suitcases + 1 Year = Study Abroad Packing List" (from The Study Abroad Blog), about general study abroad packing, and "Packing for Japan" (from Temple University Storytellers), about packing for, well, Japan.
Past these, my biggest recommendation is vacuum space saver bags. If you're like me and abnormally tall, fitting an appropriate amount of clothes into an average-sized suitcase isn't exactly easy, especially if you're heading somewhere where winter weather is still a possibility, so you need to take boots and a heavy winter coat. I ended up using space saver bags to compact my clothes into dense blocks. With a bag for my pillow and a few favorite stuffed animals, a bag for most of my clothes, and a bag for my heavy coat, I was able to fit pretty much all the clothes I'm taking into one suitcase. Of course, if for whatever reason security tries to open the bags during transit, I'm probably gonna end up losing clothes. I tried to get a hand pump I could use with the bags, but the one I bought didn't fit my brand of bags.
Great luck, right?
So to try and avoid security deciding they need to inspect my bags any further than normal, I've taken the extra precaution of keeping any clothes that contain any sort of metal outside of the vacuum bags and floating free in the suitcase. I've also made sure to keep a few outfits outside of the bags (beyond the two in my carryon) so that I can access clean clothes without having to prematurely open the bags (since I'll be spending about a week in a dorm at Kansai Gaidai before being moved to my homestay).
I'm hoping everything goes alright with my checked bags, but the biggest suggestion I'd make if you want to use space saver bags is to either find a set that comes with a hand pump, or only invest in the travel space saver bags that you can roll the air out of instead of vacuuming them (I'm using two of those for my carryon; unfortunately, the set I got didn't come with any more than that).
Since I fit the vast majority of my clothes in one bag (here's hoping it doesn't get lost, either), I was able to fit my school supplies, some books, a gift for my homestay family, and everything else I needed/really wanted to take into my other (slightly smaller) bag. My carryon contains the typical carryon stuff (a quart-sized bag of liquids, my laptop, a veritable pound of spaghetti-aka-chargers, and a couple of clean changes of clothes), and I also have a smaller bag (aka my "personal item") that I'm using to carry even more chargers, my Nintendo 3DS (in-flight entertainment), and a good book (ditto).
The only other important thing I'd note about packing is to remember that you have to follow certain laws about what you can and can't bring into Japan. Pseudoephedrine is illegal in Japan (the active ingredient in Sudafed, among many other American medicines). Narcotics are strictly regulated, and all drugs with psychotropic effects are either strictly regulated or illegal. Viagra and Prozac are illegal. When it comes to drugs that are legal, you have to fill out a special form to bring more than one month's worth of any prescription drug, or more than two months' worth of any vitamin/supplement or OTC med.
When it comes to cosmetics, you are only allowed to bring 24 of each kind of makeup (so, like, 24 tubes of mascara, 24 lipsticks, etc.). My makeup collection isn't nearly this big, so I didn't really have any issues there (especially since I only ended up taking like a third of the little makeup I do have).
And of course, you are not allowed to bring any sort of weapons, whether a pocket knife, a sword, or any kind of firearm. Plants and animals will be held in quarantine for quite some time to prevent the spread of disease or pests, so if you have an emotional support animal, it won't be very easy to bring them into the country. Explicit materials are also not allowed (possessing explicit materials involving children will land you in especially hot water, as it bloody well should), as are illegal drugs and counterfeit money of any type. You are, however, allowed to bring up to 200 cigarettes and/or three bottles of drinking alcohol (up to 760 ml each).
Beyond that, just be sure to look over Japanese regulations on what you can and can't bring into the country. You don't want to start your study abroad adventure by being held up in customs at the airport, or worse, being fined, detained, or even deported.
I'm still not 100% sure how actually going through customs works, myself. I know in the movies they always ask "Do you have anything to declare?" but I'm not entirely sure what qualifies as being declaration-worthy. I've read that customs forms will be distributed on the plane, and I'm hoping that'll make it easier to figure out what does/doesn't need to be declared.
Well, I'll probably write another post about going through customs once I'm safely on the other side. Here's hoping me and all my stuff make it safely and soundly to the Land of the Rising Sun!
TL;DR: Honestly, there's not much I can really summarize here. Check out customs laws. Make sure to pack everything you're going to need. Don't overpack. Look into vacuum space saver bags.
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